CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL “A Family of Families” November 2016 CALENDAR OF RELIGIOUS SERVICES >> Bat Mitzvah Friday, November 4 of Shabbat Service @ 6:00 pm Rebecca Simpson Saturday, November 5 Shabbat Service @ 9:00am Rebecca will participate in Friday night services on December 2nd, and will be called to the Torah as Friday, November 11 a Shabbat Service @ 7:30 pm Bat Mitzvah on Saturday, December 3rd Saturday, November 12 Shabbat Service @ 9:00 am at 10:00 am Friday, November 18 Rebecca is the daughter of Jeff and Laura Simpson. She has Shabbat Service @ 6:00 pm one brother Joshua and one sister Rachael. Saturday, November 19 Shabbat Service @ 9:00 am Rebecca is a 7th grader in the Athena program at Baker Middle School, where she is an honor roll student. She is a Wednesday, November 23 member of the golf team and is Vice-President of student Joint Thanksgiving Service at council. Congregation Beth Israel @ 7:30 PM. Rebecca loves reading, cooking, theatre, and hanging out with her friends. For the past two summers she has attended Camp Friday, November 25 Young Judaea which she loves! Shabbat Service @ 7:30 pm Rebecca’s mitzvah project is with CASA to collect art supplies Saturday, November 26 to support a special holiday program. Items include canvas, Shabbat Service @ 9:00 am paints, sketch books, colored pencils. They would also like to collect journals for the kids. Please join the Simpson Family as they celebrate this simcha with an Oneg Shabbat on Friday evening and a Kiddush Luncheon following Saturday morning services. Torah Study Saturdays @ 11:00am Please come and join us CBI Adult Education will present a one day Scholar In Residence On "Life in Ancient Israel" Presented by Jennie Ebeling Sunday, November 20 CONGREGATION BETH ISRAEL Jennie Ebeling is associate professor of archaeology at the University of Evansville in Indiana and co-director of the Jezreel 4402 Saratoga Blvd Expedition. A former Fulbright fellow, she has been awarded Telephone:361.857.8181 fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Lady Davis Trust to support research in Israel and Jordan. She is Fax: 361.857.8227 currently on the editorial board of SBL’s Bible Odyssey and an Email: [email protected] associate editor of The Bible and Interpretation website. Her research interests include ancient food and drink technology, women Website: bethisraelcc.com in Canaan and ancient Israel, and religion and cult in the Bronze and Iron Age Levant, and her publications include Women’s Lives in Biblical Times (2010) and the edited volumes Household Rabbis Archaeology in Ancient Israel and Beyond (2011) with A. Yasur- Ilan Emanuel, Rabbi Landau and L. Mazow and New Approaches to Old Stones: Recent Rabbi Kenneth Roseman, Rabbi Emeritus Studies of Ground Stone Artifacts (2008) with Y. Rowan. She produced several films based on her ethnographic research of traditional bread ovens in Jordan; one is on permanent exhibit in the Staff Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv. Ebeling teaches a variety of Debbie Bustillo, Office Administrator courses in Near Eastern archaeology at the University of Evansville and her excellence in undergraduate teaching was recognized with Meredith Ryan, Religious School Director the Dean’s Teaching Award (2011) and Outstanding Teacher of the Leslie Green, Shabbat Dinner Coordinator Year Award (2014). 10:30 am Archaeology of the Jezreel Expedition including a CBI Executive Board presentation on the results of the first four seasons of excavation at Jezreel (2013-2016). Among other discovers are an Early Bronze President Chris Adler Age village (ca. 2500 BC), a Middle Bronze Age tomb (ca. 1550 First Vice President George Kopf BC) that yielded Egyptian scarabs and other finds, and a winery from Second Vice President Richard Hausman the biblical period (Iron Age) that provides context for the story of Naboth's Vineyard in 1 Kings 21. Secretary Leslie Levy 2:00 pm The Ancient Israelite Family and Household with an Treasurer Greg Marks emphasis on the woman's role in the family. What was the structure Past President Suzy Hilliard of an ancient Israelite family, and what did their living spaces look like? This lecture includes a discussion of the Biblical bet ‘av, or Sisterhood Representative Jerri Osberg extended family household, gender roles in ancient Israelite society, Committee Chairs and the typical layout and contents of the so-called “four-room house” known from Iron Age sites in Israel and Judah. Adult Education Chair David Jacobs Cemetery Chairs Robert Adler Refreshments will be served at both talks. Carl Kuehn, Gary Blum Open to the public. We hope you will bring friends. Ritual Committee Chairs Andrew Sheinberg Jim Gold Membership Committee Chair Suzy Hilliard UPCOMING Social Action Committee Chair Linda Snider Dues Committee Chairs Ann Engel BAR/BAT MITZVOT Jim Gold December 3, 2016 Rebecca Simpson Building Chair Bill Adams December 17, 2016 Aaron Lebowitz Grounds Chair Rikki Schmitchel June 3, 2017 Mira Emanuel Fine Arts Chair Laurie Mintz Page 2 Congregation Beth Israel Newsletter RABBI’S MESSAGE “Of all the attitudes we can acquire, surely the Attitude of Gratitude is the most important and by far the most life changing.” — Zig Ziglar We have all heard the idea that we should have an “attitude of gratitude” but most of us at this point would consider this in the same way as many clichés – as something that makes sense but is corny and simplistic because it is so obvious. But any honest look at the world around us, or of our own lives, reveals that adopting an attitude of gratitude is far from obvious. Attitudes of dissatisfaction, and if left unresolved, of resentment and grievance are sadly far more prevalent. It’s easy to look at our lives and wonder why we don’t have as much money, success or happiness as someone else. It’s a lot harder to be grateful for what we have regardless of comparisons with others or the unrealistic expectations we set for ourselves. In the prayer book we use for our Friday night services there are inspirational readings side by side with the traditional prayer that expand on the themes of the prayer. A couple of years ago I used one of these readings on the theme of thanksgiving to explain the meaning of giving thanks. This year I want to look at another such reading on the same theme that appears in our prayerbook. It reads: When we behold Your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that set in place – what are we humans that You are mindful of us? We mortals that You take note of us? You made us little less than divine, adorned us with glory and majesty. You gave us dominion over Your handwork, laying the world at our feet… how majestic is Your name throughout the earth! What this reading tells us is that the beginning any attitude of gratitude is an attitude of humility. It begins not by asking what we deserve and why we don’t have it but by recognizing how small we are in the larger scheme of the cosmos. It reminds us that what G–d gives us is not given because we are great or because we are entitled to it but because G-d loves us. In our daily lives this is the beginning of thankfulness – to understand what have as a gift and not take it for granted or see it as our due. Believing we deserve all we have, even if true, leads to appreciating it less and resenting what others have more. Indeed Pirke Avot, the Saying of the Fathers, asks the question “ Who is wealthy?” and answers “The one who is content with what they have.” So as we join together for our annual Thanksgiving service and sit around our dinner tables on thanksgiving, may we increase our gratitude by increasing our humility and truly learning to appreciate all we have. Rabbi Ilan Emanuel Judaism 101 - All You Ever Wanted to Know about Judaism! Judaism is a 4,000 year old tradition of beliefs, practices, ideas and wisdom. For all those inter- ested in learning about Judaism, whether in order to convert to Judaism or to refresh your learn- ing, join us on Sunday mornings starting December 4th and continuing through the spring. We will cover everything from Jewish history and text to Jewish festivals and lifecycle, to Jewish practice and philosophy. Open to all those exploring Judaism. Classes will start Sunday, December 4th at 11am in the chapel. Congregation Beth Israel Newsletter Page 3 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Friends, A busy October, therefore no board meeting this past month. Too many activities and preparation work dates for Food Fest. And that is the main thing on everyone’s mind. I can report directly on the CABBAGE ROLLS. We had a marvelous turn out of workers. Thanks to all of you who came early, stayed late, rolled 120 heads of cabbage, filled with 120# ground meat, onions, and all the other magic ingredients that go into those delicious morsels. I know they are delicious, as one small pan, had a burned corner and we felt it only fair that we taste test the rolls. Mike T, Jim G, Sue W., and I risked our health, in order to save all of you the risk of an imperfect cabbage rolls. And we report, they are delicious and you’re going to love them. Again, thanks to the 25 or so men and women who showed up to work. We had fun and knocked out that huge job of rolling the cabbage rolls in about 3 ½ hours.